Money in, money out · Module 4 of 10
The pension that's already being built for you
What the pension deductions on your payslip are buying you, and what changes if you claim early or keep working.
Key terms in The pension that's already being built for you
- Full retirement age
Full retirement age is the age at which a United States worker can claim a Social Security retirement benefit with no reduction for claiming early. It depends on year of birth and is 67 for people born after 1960. Claiming as early as 62 permanently lowers the monthly amount.
Source: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Planning your Social Security claiming age
- Delayed retirement credit
A delayed retirement credit is an increase added to a Social Security retirement benefit for each month a person waits to claim after full retirement age, up to age 70. The increase is permanent and raises every later monthly payment. It stops accumulating at 70, so there is no further gain from waiting beyond that age.
Source: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Planning your Social Security claiming age
- Survivor benefit
A survivor benefit is a Social Security payment made to a widowed spouse after a worker dies. The survivor can generally receive either his or her own benefit or the deceased worker's, whichever is higher. Because the worker's claiming age affects the amount, one spouse's decision can change the other's income later.
Source: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Planning your Social Security claiming age
Every term on Lever is in the money glossary.
About this module
The pension that's already being built for you is part of Money in, money out, one of 15 subjects in Lever. It’s a short run of 5 lessons, about 13 minutes in all, so you can finish it in one sitting.
Every lesson takes one idea at a time. You read it with the math worked out step by step, answer a question that puts it to use, then see why the right answer is right and why the others aren’t.
It’s for anyone who was never taught this, and you don’t need to know anything first. Every lesson is free. Lever works out what you already know, so you can start here or let your path bring you to it.
More in Money in, money out
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1
What lands in your account
Read your payslip line by line and see where the gap between your salary and your paycheck goes.
5 lessons -
2
Your floor and your slack
Work out the least you need each month, the wiggle room above it, and what to do in a tight month.
13 lessons -
3
The size of a life after work
How much of your income to keep for later in life, and why your working years are the easiest time to build it.
5 lessons -
5
The costs retirement doesn't warn you about
The retirement costs people forget: relying on one income, what a partner is left with, and health costs that rise later.
5 lessons -
6
When there is no wage
Managing money without a regular paycheck: cash income, gig work, months with nothing coming in, and making savings last.
7 lessons -
7
When the plan stops matching the month
What to do when your budget stops matching real life, including when it’s the budget that needs to change.
6 lessons -
8
Tracking without obsessing
A simple tracking habit you’ll keep, a quick monthly review, and how to stop a raise from quietly disappearing.
6 lessons -
9
Everything you own, minus everything you owe
Your net worth: everything you own minus everything you owe, and why watching it over the years tells you so much.
6 lessons -
10
When the money itself shrinks
How to protect your money when prices rise fast: what to buy ahead, and what inflation does to your debts and your pay.
5 lessons
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It’s part of Money in, money out. Lever will bring it to you when you’re ready, or you can go straight there.